Wreaths are a great way to add a festive or seasonal touch to your home. While you can always buy a wreath from a store, you can make one yourself for a lot less money. Best of all, you can customize the wreath to suit your liking. Depending on how you make the wreath, you can even reuse the base each season.

Bend a wire coat hanger into a ring. Get a wire coat hanger and shape it into a ring. The easiest way to do this would be to slide it over a 5-gallon (18.5-L) bucket. Pull the hanger off of the bucket when you are done.[1]

Untwist the hanger, but leave the hook intact. Use some pliers to untwist the wire at the top of the hanger. Open up the hanger; you will be stringing the flowers onto the hanger, then twisting it back together.[2]

Cut fake flowers into 4 to 5-inch (10 to 13-cm) lengths. Purchase a bunch of fake flowers with wired stems; they must have wired stems or the next step won't work. Use wire cutters to cut the flowers so that the stems are 4 to 5 inches (10 to 13 cm) long. If there are any leaves on the cut stems, be sure to pull those off too.[3]

Large flowers, such as roses or peonies work the best for this.

How many flowers you buy depends on how big they are and how full you want the wreath to be.

Twist the stems into small loops for stringing onto the hanger. You are not attaching these to the hanger just yet. Instead, twist the flower stem into a loop about halfway down. When you are done, you'll have a flower with a short stem that has a loop at the bottom.[4]

Repeat this step for all of your flowers.

Use a skewer or knitting needle to form the loops. They need to be small enough to slide onto the hanger.

String the flowers onto the wire hanger. The wreath should be full enough so that the flowers don't slide around. You can fit more flowers by rotating the flowers around the wreath in a spiral rather than stacking them together.[5]

Do not cover the twisted part of the coat hanger, or you won't be able to reassemble it.

Re-twist the coat hanger, then hang the wreath up using the hook. Move the flowers aside if needed, then twist the wires back together like they used to be. Once your wreath is reassembled, hang it up somewhere using the hook.[6]

You can reuse this wreath base simply by untwisting it, pulling off the old flowers, then adding new ones.

Trace a wreath shape onto a piece of foam board. Purchase a foam board from the craft store or find a piece of thick cardboard. Place a large plate onto the foam board, and trace around it. Lift the plate away, then use a smaller plate to trace a smaller circle inside the bigger one.[7]

How wide you made the space between the 2 circles is up to you. The wider the space, the thicker your wreath will be.

Cut the circle out using a craft blade. Start with the bigger circle first, then do the smaller circle. Discard the inner disk and save the resulting ring shape. You will be gluing your flowers to the top of this ring.[8]

Buy fake flowers and pull the buds off of the stems. Large flowers, such as roses, work the best for this, but you can use smaller ones too. You can use flowers that are all the same shape, size, and color, or you can use a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes.[9]

Hot glue the base of the buds to the foam ring. Draw a squiggle of hot glue onto the foam ring, then quickly press a few flowers into it; make sure that the flowers are sticking straight up. Repeat this process until the ring is filled. Start at the top of the ring and work your way around it, like on a clock. Work your way in rows, from the outside edge-in.[10]

Hot glue a loop of ribbon to the back of the wreath for hanging. Cut a piece of skinny ribbon. Bring the ends together and tie them into a knot. Flip the wreath over, and hot glue the ribbon to the back so that the looped part sticks out over the top.

The exact length of the ribbon does not matter, but something between 10 to 12 inches (25 to 30 cm) would be good.

The hot glue makes this wreath permanent, however it is quick, cheap, and easy to make.

Purchase a green floral wreath base for fresh flowers. You can find these online and in well-stocked craft stores. Sometimes they are labeled as "Aqua foam." They are not the same thing as pale green wreath bases commonly sold in craft stores. They are dark green and soft to the touch. They are round, but have flat sides rather than tubular.[11]

If the wreath is shiny, light green, and doesn't squish easily when touched, it is not the correct wreath. It will not hold water.

You must use a green floral wreath base for fresh flowers, or the next step won't work.

Soak the wreath base in cold water. Find a bucket or sink big enough to fit your wreath into. Fill it with water, then place the wreath into the water.[12] Wait for the wreath to soak up water and sink to the bottom of the container. How long this takes depends on the size of the foam and how porous it is.[13]

The wreath is ready when it darkens in color and sinks to the bottom of the sink or bucket.

Cut your flowers and greenery. Use garden clippers to cut the stems off of your flowers and greenery until they are 2 to 3 inches (5.1 to 7.6 cm) long. Keep the un-cut flowers and greenery in a bucket filled with cool water. Place the cut flowers and greenery into a sink or bowl filled with cool water as soon as you cut them.[14]

Insert your desired greenery into the wreath. Start at the 12 o'clock position and work your way around the clock face. How close together or far apart you space the greenery is up to you. There is no need to tie or tape the greenery down.[15]

Fill the spaces with flowers. Start with the largest flowers, then move onto the medium flowers. Finish off with the smaller ones. Again, start at the top of the wreath and work your way around it. You can make the flowers all point in the same direction, or you can have them pointing in different directions.[16]

Loop a ribbon around the top of the wreath so that you can hang it. Cut a long piece of wide floral ribbon. Thread it through the middle of the wreath, then tie the ends together into a knot or bow to make a loop. Use the ribbon to hang the wreath as desired.[17]

Soak the wreath in cool water once per week to keep it fresh. Eventually, the flowers will wilt, but you can help the wreath last longer by re-soaking it. Once a week, take the wreath and put it into a sink filled with cool water. Leave it there for a few minutes, or until the wreath becomes soaked again.[18]

Be aware that this wreath will not last forever, and that eventually the flowers will die. You may be able to reuse the foam base, but if it has too many holes in it, you won't.

Choose a theme and design your wreath. Start with a holiday or season for your wreath, such as Christmas, spring, Halloween, or fall. Think about the colors, plants, and decorations that go well with that theme. For example:

For a Christmas wreath, you may want to use an evergreen wreath for the base, and some Christmas ornaments for the decorations.

For a spring-themed wreath, pastel colors and bulb flowers (i.e. tulips and daffodils), would work great. You can make it an Easter wreath by adding colored eggs or bunnies.

For a Halloween wreath, get a black evergreen wreath for the base, then decorate it with orange leaves, spiders, and pumpkins.

For a fall-themed wreath, a grapevine wreath would make a great base. Decorate it with lots of red, orange, and yellow, as well as pinecones.

Get a Styrofoam, wire, or grapevine wreath frame. You can find all of these in the floral section of a craft store. If you are using a Styrofoam wreath frame, make sure that you get the kind meant for fake flowers, not fresh; the foam should be rigid and white or pale green in color.[19]

If you are doing a Christmas wreath, buy a blank evergreen wreath. You can find these around Christmas time in many stores.

Cut apart your silk flowers and greenery if you are using them. Plan on cutting the stems down to 5 or 6 inches (13 or 15 cm) long. This will make it easier to secure them to your wreath. Use a pair of heavy-duty wire cutters to do this; most silk flowers have wire inside the stems, which can ruin scissors.

Alternatively, you can use a floral garland. You can find them in craft stores.

The flowers and greenery don't have to be fake. You can use this method with dried flowers and herbs too.[20]

Arrange the base items on your wreath. This includes items such as greenery or large flowers. If you are making a fall wreath on a grapevine base, you could use pinecones for this step instead. If you are using a garland for the wreath base, wrap it around the wreath frame instead so that you can't see it anymore.[21]

If you are working with an evergreen wreath, take a moment to fluff up the branches.

Wrap a string of battery-operated lights around an evergreen or grapevine wreath for a festive display.

Secure the items with wire or hot glue. Short pieces of floral wire will work great for securing items to wire, evergreen, and grapevine wreath bases. Hot glue or floral U-pins will work better for Styrofoam wreath bases. You can use hot glue for grapevine wreaths too.

Hold long branches parallel to the wreath base, then wrap wire around them. Work your way around the wreath, overlapping the branches as you go.[22]

If you added battery-operated lights, secure the battery pack to the back of the wreath with bits of floral wire.

Add other decorations, such as ornaments or flowers. Here is where you'd want to add additional items, such as Christmas ornaments, plastic eggs, bunny figurines, or plastic spiders. If you are making a floral wreath, then add your flowers now. As with the floral items, lay out your items first, then secure them as desired.[23]

Start with the bigger items first, then add the smaller ones.

Place items in odd-numbers groups, such as groups of 3 or 5.

Avoid placing 2 identical items together. If you must do this, place 3 identical items together instead. This will look more balanced and interesting.

Finish off with detail items, such as bows. Create the bows first, then secure them to the wreath with wire or hot glue. If you are making a Christmas wreath, you could even mist your wreath with artificial spray snow. If you are making a spooky Halloween wreath, add some fake cobwebs to it!

Add a wire or ribbon hanging loop so that you can hang the wreath up.

If you used wire and pins to secure the items to the wreath, you can pull them off and reuse the wreath. Hot glue will make the design permanent however.

Try a candy wreath for a tasty treat. You can make these with coat hanger, wire, and Styrofoam wreath bases. It all depends on the type of candy that you are using. Most people like to tie wrapped candies (such as mints) to wire and coat hanger wreath bases so that they are removable. Other people like to hot glue their candy to Styrofoam wreath bases for a more permanent display.

Create a deco mesh wreath using a wire wreath frame as a base. This is a fast, easy, and fun wreath to make. Once you have woven the deco mesh through the wire frame, you can decorate it with floral items to suit the season, such as plastic Easter eggs, foam pumpkins, pinecones, or Christmas ornaments. It is one of the most versatile wreaths.

Use non-floral items such as pinecones or succulents. You can buy bags of pinecones from the store during the holiday season, but you can use real ones too--just be sure to clean and preserve them first. You can use real succulents with fresh floral foam, or you can use plastic succulents with Styrofoam wreaths.

Wrap ribbon or burlap around a Styrofoam wreath for a unique base. Choose a wide ribbon or burlap ribbon. Wrap it around a Styrofoam wreath base, overlapping it with each wrap. Hot glue the ends to the back of the wreath, then decorate the wreath with floral items, such as succulents, foam pumpkins, pinecones, or ornaments. You can also use colored wooden cutouts.

Craft stores sell wooden cut outs in their wood crafting aisle. They come in all shapes, such as ducks, hearts, stars, and owls. They often come pre-painted.

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Community Q&A

What decorations should I put on my wreath to make it more Christmasy?

wikiHow Contributor

Community Answer

Try some ornaments or "Christmas picks." Christmas picks are miniature sprigs of pine branches, holly, poinsettias, and pinecones. You can find them in craft stores around Christmas time. Another option is to base the wreath's design off of your own Christmas tree.